Family Nativity set
paved the way to
a lifetime of faith

   BROWNSVILLE — Throughout the holidays, visitors  have found their attention drawn to one corner of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral decorated by a large crèche flanked by sprawling models of Jerusalem and Nazareth. Appropriately, this impressive construction is the work of Brownsville resident Teresa Nuñez, a lifelong collector of Nativity scenes whose home houses some 75 sets. “I’ve always loved Nativity scenes ever since I was little,” she said. “My mom and dad had a Nativity set that they probably bought at the five-and-dime. I thought that was the most beautiful thing.
     “I would lay underneath the Christmas tree and look at it. I guess just being a child, you put things in perspective as to the Baby Jesus and relating to him. And you start thinking, ‘I wonder what he was like. And I wonder what he would do? And was he always nice to his mom?’ Things like that – ideas that children have.”
     That crèche is now the nucleus of her collection – a relic from her childhood that helped seed her enduring faith.
     Christmas clearly has always been a special time for her.
     “Back in the day, money was something that was very scarce. And so Christmastime … you would get a gift, and you wouldn’t get anything (else) until maybe your birthday,” she said. “So you learned to appreciate the holiday; you really enjoyed the holiday. It had meaning for you.
     “Your parents would take you to Mass — either to Midnight Mass or Mass Christmas Day, one of the two. And the emphasis was on the birth of Christ, all the time,” she said. “So because of that, and because
of what my mom and dad taught me, it strengthened my faith.”
     “My brothers and I all went to parochial school … I went to Incarnate Word and Villa Maria (from first to third at Immaculate Conception Cathedral’s school). The sisters also helped to encourage my faith (by) the way they were, how they would treat us.”

     As an adult, Teresa Nuñez taught school herself at Putegnat and Cromack elementary schools, St. Joseph Academy, and finally for two years at then-University of Texas-Brownsville before her retirement.
     For the past six years, she has volunteered at the cathedral, joining with others there decorating and keeping up the sanctuary. In 2021, she worked from June to October preparing the Christmas tableau, making most of the little buildings from empty cardboard candle boxes.
     The hardest model to make was the Dome of the Rock, the landmark Islamic mosque that today occupies the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. “Very difficult,” she said, adding that she was not completely satisfied with her model but ran out of time to fine-tune it. Despite her doubts, its golden dome and details make it instantly recognizable.
     Her husband, Ed Nuñez, whose career with the U.S. Border Patrol spanned three decades, supports her collecting at home and her work at the cathedral. While she worked on her models, he took care of the meals and household chores. He and a carpenter friend even did their own work at the cathedral, building two large closet- size cabinets in the sacristy – one for the bishop, and one for the priests.
     “I consider myself a wannabe carpenter,” he said. Turning to his wife, he said, “She wants more shelves …”
     “… because I know I’m going to find more Nativities,” she finished.
     “I started buying them when I grew up and started going to estate sales and auctions,” she said, recalling the first Nativity scene she purchased at auction – an elaborate vintage crèche that she got for a song.“
     They had a set made of olive wood, with the bidding set to start at $100. Nobody would bid on it, and the opening number kept going down until it was $5.”
     Today, she values that grouping at $1,200. And she has scores of others, from all over the world.
     Teresa Nuñez remembers how special it used to be when December came around and her family brought out their one Nativity set.

     “A lot of people seem to disregard Nativity scenes nowadays, and that’s a shame,” she said. “People should be aware of why Our Lord came to this earth. When I look at the Nativity, it helps me feel a lot closer.”
     But something has been lost since her childhood, she says – “the way you were shown the importance of it – it was a whole different world, different morals, different ideas. God was always first, all the time.
     “Now it seems like, ‘Yes, God is first, but we’ve got to go to work. We’ve got to make money. We’ve got to do this; we’ve got to do that … And we’ll eventually get there, but this is first.’
     “And it shouldn’t be; it should be the other way around, where God is first.”
     “At the end, we have to account to God when we stand in front of him as to what we did here. … I remember Bishop Flores in one sermon told us that we all have gifts, and when we go and appear before
God, we need to account for that gift that he gave us – what did we do with it?
     “I have a lot of angels who help me along the way. … Each of those ladies that helped at the church to decorate, each of them used their gift and presented it to the Lord as we worked together.
     “And so it’s all together – all of us; we all bring our gifts together. Yes, I might be able to make something, but it’s them, also. Working together, we’re able to do this for the church to really make it shine … for the glory of the birth of Christ.”